Review: SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL – ‘Misery Sermon’ [Official Videos]

When someone asks me what the most brutal band on this damn earth is I would always answer with Enterprise Earth but after Slaughter To Prevail released their new album ‘Misery Sermon’ today I am not sure what to answer. Alex Terrible really improved his vocals a lot since their first ever EP ‘Chapters Of Misery’ that got released just 2 years ago. After just starting to listen to deathcore I stumbled upon this breathtaking EP and it instantly caught me in it’s web. I never heard anything like it. The brutalness was one of a kind and the fact that the vocals are mostly in russian makes it even better. After listening to this EP over and over again for 2 years now they eventually made their debut album ‘Misery Sermon’ which got released on this exact date by their label Sumerian Records. When people hear the words ‘Slaughter To Prevail’ they immediately think of their vocalist Alex Shikolai but there is more to the band then just the vocalist. Jack Simmons takes care of the striking solo’s and guitar riffs where Anton Poddyachy is busy showing everyone what he is capable of on the drums. Not to mention the amazing masks that they created themselves. Click HERE if you want to be part of the Misery Crew!

On the 20th of April they uploaded a music video for their song ”Chronic Slaughter” which got everyone in the deathcore community talking about them. People were stunned by how brutal this track was. It showcased exactly what the band is all about. Terrifying vocals that would scare the devil from it’s throne to emotional yet brutal guitar and drum work. The song is about all the misery on this planet. From people killing each other because of religion to humanity making the same mistake over and over again. Soon we have to face the hard reality, we are part of a dying world. If we continue living like animals on this planet our race will be extinct before we know it.

”Failed Hope” is the only song on the album that consists of cleans. Clean vocals have been around a while now in deathcore but since this year a lot of bands have picked it up and tried it out. What makes Alex’s clean vocals special is that he is originally Russian which makes everything he says brutal including his cleans. As I have mentioned before the songs are for the most part in Russian but this song features English vocals as well. If the diverse vocal style didn’t get you out of your lazy chair then the switching from Russian to English vocals will! ”Failed Hope” is exactly what you would think the song is about when reading the name. Alex talks about people putting all the hope in things like family and religion and I honestly think we would be better off believing in ourselves and opening our eyes to truly see what we are.

”Countless lives lost” ”Another fucking slaughter”

The most brutal song on the album is the song ”Born To Die”. It’s like god and the devil himself got in the boxing ring and were fighting till the bitter end. It’s really intense, powerful and most of all fucking choatic. This is THE song you need when you feel angry or when you need to release some stress. We are all born to die alone. Not with the person you love but alone. In a cold and dark grave we will all rot away and our sins will build the staircase to hell.

‘Misery Sermon’ is an album you don’t want to miss out on. The vocals are inhuman and the riffs will literally trow you into a Slaughter To Prevail mosh pit. Lyrically it’s fierce and savage. It’s about humanity making the same mistakes over and over and again (Chronic Slaughter) to songs about the tough truth we will all face one day (Born To Die). A band with a strong message like this coming from Russia is exactly what I would expect. For those of you that don’t know, Russia is known for silencing any form of media that disagrees with them and this band is a big fuck you to the Russian state. They manage to do the complete opposite of what they are told and that’s what metal is all about.

Slaughter To Prevail will be touring with Oceano, Aversions Crown, Spite & No Zodiac, click HERE for tickets.

About Wessel

Hi there, I'm Wessel and I'm from Holland. From the moment I could hear I loved music and everything about it. You will see me either long boarding or doing something regarding music. Feel free to hit me up any time to talk about music. Hopefully you found my review interesting and I will see you soon!
Stay sic \m/